The smell of tacos and coffee filled the West Mall at the semester’s first Coffee with a Cop event Wednesday. Hosted by the Horns & Heroes initiative, the event aimed to connect students with first responders in a non-emergency setting by offering conversations with people behind the uniform, according to an Instagram post by the group.
UT Police Department officers, Central Texas Public Safety Commission staff and Hook ‘Em worked to pass out breakfast. Initially, students seemed nervous to meet officers, said Ashley Copeland, the chief operating officer for the Central Texas Public Safety Commission.
“The cops extended them a cup of coffee, a taco, and suddenly their faces, their whole demeanor changed,” Copeland said. “That is absolutely exactly what we want … to begin building that relationship between the two.”
Chris Rybarski, a police chief with the University of Texas Police Department, said the event was a good opportunity to connect with students and he wants to see the initiative continue to grow.
“You want to see the organization continue to grow, more involvement (and) different organizations can get involved,” Rybarski said. “It’s just a great thing for the students and the police department as well.”
The Horns and Heroes initiative was created in November 2025 in collaboration with the Central Texas Public Safety Commission and UTPD. Last spring, the program partnered with Texas Trailblazers, a leadership program within the McCombs School of Business. Will Florer, senior administrative program coordinator of the Texas Trailblazers, said the Horns and Heroes program ties into their capstone projects that aim to fulfill campus needs.
“We want students to have great visibility and access to some of their public safety officers and (sign) up to learn more about what different things are going on in the public safety world,” Florer said.
Copeland said this event would be the first of many this year, and the group is hoping to hold public safety panels in the future with the goal of creating an ongoing relationship between students and public safety leadership.
“We want students to be active participants in their own safety, not just recipients of public safety services,” Copeland said. “That starts with awareness and education around what public safety looks like, and creating opportunities for students to both engage with public safety (and) the public safety departments that serve them, but also give back to them and begin building that relationship.”
